Ryan: "Let Mueller do his job"

"If there were not good cause, it wouldn't matter to me no matter what anybody says", explained Rosenstein.

Trump has expressed frustrations with Sessions, one of the president's earliest high-profile backers. But that changed shortly after Trump fired Comey last May, the Post's sources said.

Since the Justice Department's ethics office has already decided that Mueller doesn't have a conflict resulting from his law firm's representation of Trump family members, that argument looks soft.

Instead, experts say the onus would be on Congress to review any findings of criminal misconduct and then decide whether to initiate impeachment proceedings. An order from the president would not necessarily qualify, he said.

Sessions adds that he has no knowledge of "any such conversations by anyone connected to the Trump campaign".

On CNN to anchor Chris Cuomo: "I think it is a consideration the president has had, because Mueller is illegitimate as special counsel".

Attorney General Jeff Sessions is preparing for sharp questions from his former Senate colleagues about his role in the firing of James Comey and his Russian contacts during the campaign.

The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Adam Schiff, warned on Twitter that "If President fired Bob Mueller, Congress would immediately re-establish independent counsel and appoint Bob Mueller".

House Speaker Paul Ryan told reporters that any talk about Mr Trump wanting to rid himself of the special investigator amounts to rumour. I think it's pretty clear by what one of his lawyers said on television recently.

Rosenstein was asked by Sen.

"As such", he said, "I have no knowledge about this investigation, as it is ongoing today, beyond what has been publicly reported".

Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, disputed that report. "No, senator, it is not a disqualification", Rosenstein said. "With respect to this subject, only the President or his attorneys are authorised to comment". "I think it's an accurate statement".

The special counsel overseeing the probe into Russia's alleged meddling in the USA election is looking at whether President Donald Trump tried to obstruct justice, the Washington Post reported Wednesday, citing unnamed officials.

Rosenstein said that if he fired Mueller, he would be required to explain it in writing. Still, he added, "I can't imagine that that issue is going to arise".

He also said it would be inappropriate for him to get involved - given that he has recused himself from Russia-election-related matters.

Since being appointed special counsel in May, Mueller has built a team of formidable legal minds who've worked on everything from Watergate to Enron.

The responsibility for appointing (or theoretically firing) Mueller lies with Rosenstein because his boss, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, recused himself in March from all investigations involving Russian Federation and the 2016 elections.

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who appointed Mueller last month, testified Tuesday he has seen no evidence of good cause to fire Mueller.

After initially being praised by Republicans and Democrats for his integrity, in recent days Mueller's impartiality as special counsel has been questioned by some Trump supporters. She said it was inappropriate to fire Comey given that he was overseeing the Russian Federation investigation. Rosenstein responded: "No I have not".

Mueller has always been widely respected by many in Washington from both sides of the aisle, with many lawmakers praising Deputy Rob Rosenstein's appointment of the former Federal Bureau of Investigation director.

He also emphasized that the DOJ will "faithfully follow the regulation" and Mueller will have the "full degree of independence he needs to conduct that investigation appropriately". He said he was untroubled by claims Trump tried to persuade Comey to back off the investigation, saying those revelations only emerged after Comey was sacked and wanted to defend himself.

A top aide to President Donald Trump suggested that special counsel Robert Mueller is biased even as the White House worked to end a day of speculation over whether the president is considering firing the head of the Russian Federation probe.

Ryan said the smartest thing for the president to do would be to let the investigation continue and be vindicated. Trump's team seems to have different ideas, implying that, in its leader's eyes, Ruddy has committed the most sacrilegious of sins: attempting to hoist himself into the media spotlight by invoking the president's name.

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